Take it Up a Notch
by Alexis loves you4554
Summary: Angela-Marie Stone is Riley's best friend. She is starting her junior year and thinks its going to be just like last year:boring. But she doesnt plan on a mysterious new boy in skinny jeans that drives a hearse, coming to shake things up.
1. Chapter 1

My alarm clock went off at an annoyingly early our and I groaned and reached out my arm to my night stand to turn it off.

The first day of school. Ugh. The worst time for a girl my age; it meant that summer freedom was officially over. No more all-nighters. No more parties. No more drinking until dawn and waking up with the worst hangovers of your life. All over.

I rolled out of my nice, warm bed and walked to my bathroom. I got in the shower and then got dressed. I had picked out my outfit the night before, to preserve time in the morning. A white, flowing tank top, ripped denim shorts, and brown high heeled boots. I brushed my hair and then scrunched it up, letting it fall naturally. I did my make-up, brushed my teeth, and headed down stairs. When I got down there, my mother was cooking breakfast.

I ran past her to the door and began to open it before she called to me. "Sweetie, aren't you going to have some breakfast?"

"No thanks Mom." I yelled back. "I have to meet Riley." I opened the door and walked outside to the summer, almost fall, air and began my walk to Degrassi. I was starting my junior year there, and still only posessed one _best _friend. Riley Stavros. I only know him because he was Peter's(my brother) friend first. But we are best friends now, and we tell eachother everything. And besides Peter, Anya, and of course Zane, I was the only person to know that he is gay. And it doesnt bother me. I had other friends, just not like Riley.

I was at Degrassi now and I walked in the glass doors and saw Riley and a couple of guys from the football team chatting in the hall. I began walking towards them when Riley turned, saw me, and a smile broke out on his. Oh no. I knew what he was getting at. The beginning of the school year tradition. I wanted to run away right then, but I couldnt break tradition. Riley turned to his friends, signaling them, as I walked closer. They spread out in a large circle, pushing freshman aside. Riley stood between the circle of smiling boys and me and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" He shouted to everyone, loud and clear. "At this time, please prepare yourselves for the first Angela-Marie Stone toss of the school year!" The football team circle cheered and clapped.

I sighed and set down my purse, knowing what was coming. Riley smirked and ran towards me, swooping me up bridal style and retreating to the circle. Then, I was tossed around the circle like a doll, never hitting the ground. Your probably wondering who came up with the game 'Angie Toss'. That would be Gavin Mason and Jay Hogart. Enough said. Because, when theres Peter, theres Spinner, and when theres Spinner, theres Jay. Its like like a three for one package of fun! Note my sarcasm. It was an event that the whole school knew and the whole school watched.

I was finally set down on my feet and I went and retrieved my purse. I laughed with the football team and we dispersed in different directions. I walked with Riley and he soon threw his arm around my shoulders, like always. "So how was your summer Angie?" He asked me.

I smiled up at him. "It was fun. I went to a few good parties with Peter."

He chuckled and we walked to the front desk to get our schedules and locker numbers. I looked at him again with a glint in my eye. "I already know you had a good summer," He smiled at me. "With Zane." I added sing-songly.

We laughed and he pushed me playfully. "I'll see you later Angie, I'm gonna go find my locker." He kissed my cheek and left. I decided I was going to do the same thing and found mine. It was in the perfect spot, accross from my last class of the day, Trigonometry. I put everything in my locker and shut it. Thats when I noticed a guy opening the locker next to mine and putting things in it. He was cute. Really cute. In one of those sexy, mysterious, bad boy ways. I had a thing for bad boys, I couldnt help myself, I looked. He had long-ish hair that fell across his forehead and he was wearing all dark clothing. His skinny jeans clung to him just right, and trust me when I say I like skinny jeans on guys, if they can pull it off. And this boy certainly could.

Right as I finished looking him over, the bell rang for the first class. I grabbed my Media Immersion text book and turned to the boy. He looked up from what he was doing and gave me a look of confusion.

I smirked in response and looked him up and down, once again landing on his face. I smirked at him. "Skinny jeans." My smirk grew. "Cute."

It was his turn to smirk now, and he did. And it was gorgeous. I walked away then, only giving him a wink over my shoulder. Most girls wouldnt do that. But I'm not 'most girls'. I'm very confident and I like boys. A lot. Well, not as much as Alli Bandhari, but a lot. And I may sound cocky when I say this, but its not the way I mean it: They like me too.

I continued my walk to Media Immersion.


	2. Chapter 2

I walked in to the Media Immersion classroom to find everyone sprawled out and talking to their friends. I took a seat on the far end of the classroom watched as the bell rang and everyone made their way to a seat. A cute but very, very cocky looking kid took a seat next to me. He had short brown hair and an amazing smile. He gave me a wink and I turned the other direction, rolling my eyes. I could tell we werent going to be friends.

Ms. Oh walked in the classroom and everyone got quiet. She stood at the front of the room with what I imagined to be a attendance list. "Alright class, I'm going to call out your name and you'll say that you are here, and then we'll get to know eachother, alright?" There was murmurs of aggreement throughout the class and she started going through the list. She called out names of people I knew and then one that wasnt familiar. "Drew Torres?"

"Right here." I heard from next to me. Ahh, so Mr. Cocky has a name. He turned to me and gave me a smile. Ugh, call the peremedicts, I think I may be temporarily blinded.

"Anglela-Marie Stone?" I heard Ms. Oh call out. I sighed. "It's Angie, and here." She nodded at me and continued on with her list. Then she called out another name I didnt know. "Elijah Goldsworthy?" Hmm, must be a new kid. Hopefully he isnt as cocky as Drew over here. Because the only open seat was next to me, and I didnt want to be surrounded.

A boy walked in the door then and Ms. Oh looked up. "Are you Elijah Goldsworthy?" She asked. Wait, I knew him! It was Skinny Jeans!

He nodded. "Eli." She smiled at him and nodded. "Alright Eli, why dont you take the seat next to Miss. Stone." She pointed to the open seat next to me.

He smirked and sat down next to me. I gave him a smile and leaned in to talk to him. "Heya Skinny Jeans." He smirked at me and nodded. "I'm Angie."

He smiled at me. "Eli." I smiled back at him. "Well Eli, as long as your not as cocky as the bastard sitting on the other side of me, I think we'll get along great."

He chuckled. "I can be cocky, but only when I'm right." I sighed and turned back to the front of me. "What has become of the world?" I joked. We both laughed and Ms. Oh started talking again.

"Alright class our first getting to know eachother activity will be the Honesty Train." Everyone groaned. "You will stand up, tell the class your name, favorite color, and say something honest about the persno, or two people, sitting next to you. Be honest, but not too mean." I inwardly chuckled at that. Great. Of course I was stuck between the people I didnt know.

The train started and continued until it got to Drew. Now this I had to listen to. "I'm Drew, my favorite color is green," He gestured to the other side of him, not mine. "I think Chantay is funny, and Angie is," He looked down at me with a smile. "Beautiful." He sat down and the class awed while I rolled my eyes and I heard Eli scoff.

I smiled and stood up. "My name is Angie, my favorite color is yellow, I think Eli looks nice in skinny jeans," I gestured to him then switched my gaze to Drew. I smiled at him -being seemingly nice. "And I think Drew needs to pull that huge suck-up stick out of his ass." The class erupted in laughter and Drew's smile dropped, while mine grew, and I sat down.

Ms. Oh looked shocked. "I'll pretend I didnt here that Angela-Marie." I smiled at her innocently. "Okay Mr. Goldsworthy, your turn."

Eli stopped laughing and stood up. "I'm Eli, my favorite color is black," Suprising. "And I think Angie is completely truthful." He sat down as the class snickered again. I smiled at him and turned my gaze to Drew, he was a lovely shad of red. I smirked at him and he ran a hand through his hair.

I brought my hand to his shoulder. "Dont take it persnally Drew," My smirk grew. "Take it as things you need to improve on."

He smirked back at me as Ms. Oh started talking. "Alright class, there is about ten minutes left of class, feel free to talk amongst yourselves, I wont give you this chance often."

~~~~Drew's POV~~~~

After Ms. Oh said we could talk, I walked over to a guy I had met earlier, I think his name was Zack. "She's different." I said, looking at Angie. "And I want her, and I'm not going to stop until I have her."

Zack looked at me like I was completely insane. "Are you crazy? Theres a reason a girl as pretty as her doesnt have a boyfriend! Because everybody else knows that if they try, they will have the whole football team, and almost all the guy seniors beating their asses! And not to mention the guys who work at The Dot!"

I looked at him, utterly confused. He started to explain. "Angie is Peter Stone's little sister. Peter is friends with Riley, and Riley is her best friend, making the whole football team her friends. Then, Peter used to be in a band with Sav, making him her friend, and Sav is friends with the whole senior class, making them friends with her. And Spinner Mason used to be in the band, he's also friends with her and he works at The Dot. Now listen closely to this one, Spinner is best friends with a guy named Jay Hogart. And Jay Hogart is bad news. And he is friends with Angie." The confusion left my face and fear filled Zack's. "I heard last year, Spinner and Jay scared a guy so bad, that he moved all the way to Arizona." Zack shuddered and I smirked.

"Trust me I know what I'm doing." I said smugly. At least I hope so.


	3. Chapter 3

My classes up until lunch went by slowly. Okay, not just slowly, I was bored out of my friggin mind! Thats why I was overly joyful when I heard the lunch bell ring. I shot out of my seat so fast I could have broken my ankles from the heels I was wearing. I hurried and stuffed my books in my locker, grabbed my carrots, and made a mad dash for the cafe. But when I got there and the usual football table was empty, I remembered that they I had tryouts. Shit. It was the first day of school and I was spending my lunch alone.

I sighed and walked outside. There was a few people outside eating their lunch at the picnic tables. And then I saw my new lunch companion. Eli Goldsworthy was lounged gainst a tree with his eyes closed and his head phones on. I made my way over to him and sat criss-cross applesauce in front of him. He didnt see or hear me. I took a carrot from my bag and took a bite. I took the other half, aimed, and hit him between the eyes. He shot up so fast you would think it was a basketball that hit him, not a carrot.

I started laughing at his shocked expression and he took off his head phones. He smirked at me and looked down to see what I had thrown at him. He pointed a finger at me. "Your lucky I like carrots." He said smoothly. "Your brave to throw one at me too." He gave me a lopsided smile while he said it and I put on a tough face.

"Yep. Angela-Marie Stone, professional bad ass and carrot thrower." I said in a really bad man voice, flexing my non-existant muscles.

He laughed at that and threw the carrot back at me. He leaned back against the tree again and became serious. "So, where's your football posse? Shouldn't you be hanging with them, not the scary new kid?"

I smiled at him. "Well, they're all at tryouts. And just because I hang with them most of the time, doesnt mean they own me." My smile grew. "I can hang out with whoever I want, and right now it just happens to be the scary new kid. Who really isnt scary." I shot back at him.

He raised eyebrow at me and smirked. I laughed and layed back in the cool grass. Then I got an idea. I shot up and looked at him. "Do you have a car?"

"Yeah..." He said hesitantly. I smiled my biggest smile and stood up, offering my hand to him. "Come on." He looked at me confused and took my hand, pulling himself up. "I have to take you somewhere. You like coffee?" I asked him.

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Of course." I chuckled at the look on his face. "Which car is yours?" I asked as we walked to the parking lot. He smirked at me and we stopped in front of a..._hearse?_ Well thats different.

He smiled. "Angie, meet Morty, my hearse."

I giggled. "You named your hearse Morty?" He grinned at me. "Well I thought it was a good name."

I laughed. "Well, we're going to The Dot. Free coffee and food from my brother." I smirked at him. He nodded and opened the passenger door for me. I got in and nodded my thanks. He climbed in the drivers seat and screamo music blasted from the radio. Eli pulled out of the Degrassi parking lot and on to the road. I looked over at him. "So, how do you like Degrassi so far?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Its alright. Dramatic, thats for sure."

I laughed and nodded. "Yeah, but you'll get used to it."

He smirked and nodded. We were quiet for the next few minutes before he asked me a question I wasnt expecting. "So, are you a cheerleader?"

I looked at him strangely. "Ugh, no." He looked over at me briefly before switching his gaze back to the road. "Well, I just thought you might be because you hang with the football team and all." I shook my head and chuckled. "If I wanted to go up in front of the school and bounce until my boobs were falling out of my bra, I would join the track team."

He raised an eyebrow at me and chuckled as we pulled in to The Dot parking lot. We got out of 'Morty' and made our way to the door. He opened the door for me and gestured me in. "Thanks." When we got inside I could see Peter wiping down the tables, Spinner orginizing the front counter, and Jay sitting at the counter. The Dot was empty. They looked up from what they were doing as I cleared my throat. Their faces broke in to smiles, as did mine. I gestured for Eli to follow me as I walked over to where Peter was standing. I hugged him and he kissed my forehead. "Heya Angie. I already know you didnt come to see me. So what _did_ you come for? And whos he?" He asked me, nodding his head toward Eli.

I put on an innocent smile and pulled Eli up next to me. "Peter, Eli. Eli, Peter." They nodded to eachother. "And we came for free coffee." Peter laughed at me and we all made our way to the counter, by Spinner and Jay. I took a seat on a stool next to Jay and Eli took the one next to me.

I put on a mock serious face. "Gavin, Jason." I nodded at them both. Their faces broke out in smiles and they both ruffled my hair brotherly. "So which one of you three fine men will be making me and Eli's coffee?" They directed their gaze to the boy sitting next to me.

"Hey." Eli said, not faltering a bit under their harsh stares. "Hey." They said back in unison, their faces switching back to smiles. Eli grinned.

Spinner made his way to the coffee machine and started brewing two cups. Jay directed his attention to Eli. "So Eli, you go to Degrassi?" Eli looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, I just moved here." Jay nodded, taking it in. "Cool." He finally said.

Spinner sat the coffee down in front of us and we talked until it was gone. They mostly innterogated poor Eli. Once we were done I stood up and Eli followed in suit. "Well, we better get going back to school. See you all later." I said, giving them each a kiss on the cheek as Eli nodded to them, and we walked back outside.

He opened the passenger door on Morty for me and then got in himself and started the car, or hearse, rather. He looked over at me. I raised an eyebrow at him. "What?" I asked. He smirked and drove out of the parking lot. "Your cute." He said bluntly. I chuckled. "Well thank you." I blushed. I never blushed. Ever. "And your not to bad yourself." I added. He laughed, and we continued our way back to Degrassi.

Who was I kidding? He was frigging gorgeous.


	4. Chapter 4

We stepped out of Morty in the school parking lot right as the bell rang. Five minutes to get to class. I dont want to be late on my first day to English, Ms. Kwan already doesnt like me. I turned to Eli as we walked in the glass doors. "So _Elijah_ what class do you have next?" I asked him with a smirk.

He smirked back and turned his attention to me. "English, with Ms. Kwan."

We walked up to our lockers and grabbed our books. "Well, I will be your personal escort to the English classroom," He gave me a lopsided smile. "But only because I have it too." I added with a playfull smile.

He chuckled as we entered the classroom and we took seats in front of Alli Bhandari and Clare Edwards. I liked Alli, we were friends, but I only know her through Sav. I noticed that Clare turned a vibrant color of red when Eli sat in front of her. I laughed quietly, Clare and I werent friends. She had this thought in her head that she was too good to be friends with me. I didnt mind, she was slightly boring. I turned around to talk to Alli. "Hey Bhandari, how was your Summer?"

I noticed she wasnt paying any attention to me, and when I followed her gaze, it was on Drew Torres. I smirked and tapped her desk, bringing her out of her trance. "Oh, hey Angie."

My smirk grew. "Someone is crushing on Mr. Cocky over there." She smiled. "Yeah, from when I first laid eyes on him, I knew we were meant to be." She went back in to her trance-mode and I realized I wasnt getting anymore out of her, so I turned my attention back to Eli.

I noticed Eli had a smirk on his face. I looked at him confused, and I guess he could sense my gaze, because he turned to me and threw his head back slightly, motioning to Clare. I looked back and it took all my restraint not to laugh. She was staring at him so hard I was afraid her eyes were going to pop out of her head.

Ms. Kwan walked in to the room as the bell rang and stood at the front of the room. "Alright class, we are going to start a classic novel today, and pair up with a partner for the project. Choose your partner at this time." The class erupted in to talking and giggling.

Eli cast me a look as to say 'Partner?' and I nodded with a smile. Just then Drew walked over to my desk and leaned on it. He smiled. "Wanna be my partner Angie?"

I smiled slightly back at him. "Sorry Drew, I already have a partner. But you should really work with Alli." I shot a thumb over my shoulder.

He smirked a bit. "Alright." He said as he sat down beside her. I turned around and gave Alli a smile. She was practically radiating with glee. She mouthed a 'Thank You' and turned her attention to Drew.

I heard Eli chuckle and I turned back to him. I brought my knees up to my chest in my seat. Clare was still looking at him, and I couldnt help but feel a tad bit of jealousy. I took a piece of paper and pen out of my bag, scribbled on it, and flicked it to his desk.

_I think you have a secret admirer Mr. Goldsworthy._

He laughed a bit. **I dont think its a secret, shes burning a hole in my head.**

I laughed, recieving a couple of weird stares. _Ha Ha. I like you Eli, sarcasm and exageration, two of my favorite qualities in a person._

He smirked. **Well thats good to hear, I wouldnt want to be partners with some one that didnt like me. And for the record, I like you too. And you dont hate on Morty, thats even better. **

I read the note and smiled at him. Ms. Kwan started talking again. "Okay, I'll pass out the novels now that you have your partners, and you can begin discussing them." She passed out the novels and everyone groaned. Wuthering Heights. "Okay class, you may begin."

Eli and I scooted our desks together. He gave me a lopsided grin, that was very attractive, mind you. "So Angie, how do you want to do this?"

I smiled at him and folded my legs in to criss-cross-aplesauce position. "Well Ms. Kwan will give us some time in class to read it, but it wont be enough, so..." I thought for a moment. "After school?"

He smiled back at me. "Sure, sounds good." The bell rang a moment later and everyone gathered their things. I stood up and gave him a little grin. "Okay, meet me at our lockers after school, then we can go somewhere." He smirked and nodded at me as we both exited the classroom and went to our next class.

I could only think of one thing the rest of the day: Eli Goldsworthy is growing on me.


	5. Chapter 5

I packed up my things from my Trigonometry class and walked to my locker. I hadn't seen Riley all day, but somehow, I was okay with it. As I opened my locker I heard a _ping_ from my phone. It was a text from Peter.

_Need you at The Dot. Pick you up in ten._

I sighed, well so much for working on the English project with Eli. As if he knew I was thinking about him, he popped up beside me and put his things in his locker. He turned to me and gave a lopsided smile. "So, are we still on for the project?" How could I say no?

I bit my lip. "Yeah, but we have a pit stop first. Peter needs me at The Dot, and he's picking me up in like, five minutes." I thought for a minute. "You can come too! Follow us in Morty, then whatever Peter wants me to do, won't take long, then we can go somewhere to work on our project." I gave him a bright smile.

He smirked and nodded. "Okay Angie, if thats what floats your boat, I'll come." I smiled and threw my arms around his neck and he hesitantly hugged me back. I smiled at him, grabbed his hand and started dragging him to the exit. "Come on! Hes probably already here!" He laughed and started following me out the door. "You love your brother don't you?" He asked. I laughed and grinned. "Of course!... Accept when I get in trouble, he isn't pleasent." Eli laughed and pulled open the glass doors.

Yep, when we got outside, there was Peter, sitting in his beautiful blue convertible, wearing his black waffer sunglasses. Eli took a look at the car and his eyes widened. "Wow."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, Daddy obviously plays favorites, if you can tell." Eli smirked and nodded.

I dragged him over to the car and Peter smiled. "Hey Ang, Eli." Eli nodded to him politely.

I smiled at my brother. "Eli is gonna follow us there, because we have to work on our English project." Peter nodded. "Cool, two more hands would be nice."

I tilited my head to the side. "What are we doing, anyways?"

He smirked. "You'll see. Hop in." I shrugged and got in the car. "Okay, Eli, see you there!" I said happily. He smiled at me and nodded, walking to Morty and starting the engine, following us out of the parking lot and to The Dot.

Peter and I sang along to the radio dramatically the whole way there, and I was so grateful that I had a brother like Peter, not afraid to let go and have fun. And that he loved me, and he wasn't embaressed to show it around his friends. I loved him too, if I didnt have him I don't know what I would do. Last year, when he was addicted to Meth, I used to wake up in the middle of the night crying, because I would have dreams that he overdosed and killed himself. I'm glad I have him back now.

We pulled in to The Dot parking lot, Eli following in suit. We all got out of the cars and Peter led us up to Above The Dot. We all walked in the door and Jay was already in there...painting. Crap. This was going to take longer than serving a few people.

Me and Eli shared a look. "Uhh, are we supposed to paint?" I asked Peter.

He smiled at me. "Of course, what else would you do?"

Eli and I both groaned. You know earlier, when i said i loved my brother? I take it back. Right about now, im leaning more towards strongly dislike.


	6. Chapter 6

Eli and I had finished painting about an hour ago. Peter had mercy on us and decided we only had to do one wall. Now we were at the park, both lounged out in the grass, reading. Silently. Whoo, fun. Note the sarcasm. I marked the page i was on in my book and set it down in the grass. Eli followed suit and flopped his arm over his face.

I groaned. "I swear, if i have to read another word, my eyes are going to fall out of my head and spend the remainder of the day rolling around on the ground trying to locate my body." I turned over so that i was lying on my stomach, facing the boy in front of me.

I heard him chuckle, which was somewhat muffled by his arm. I poked him in the stomach. "Yeah, laugh it up. You wont think its so funny when it happens to you too. We both need a break!"

He nodded his head in agreement and sat up. He smirked. "What do you suppose we do then?"

I smiled at him and hopped to my feet, grabbing my book along the way. I held my hand out to him. " I'm thinking ice cream. How about you?"

He smiled and took my hand, hoisting himself up. "I think thats a great idea." We walked to the ice cream cart a few feet away and both got vanilla cones. We started a walk along the paved path that surrounded the park. Silence engulfed us until i broke it. I smirked his direction. "Tattoos or piercings?"

He looked over at me and returned the smirk. "I have one tattoo." I smiled. "Oooh! Let me see!" He chuckled and pushed his sleeve up. There, on his bicep in beautiful cursive letters, was the name 'Julia'. I smiled. "Your girlfriend?" i asked.

Eli looked at me with a saddened expression. "Ex-girlfriend. She was hit by a car and killed." I slightly gasped. "I'm sorry, i didnt know, I shouldnt have asked."

He smiled at me. "Its okay, really. I've learned to handle it." I was still unsure, and i knew he could tell, because he quickly changed the subject. "What about you? Do you have any?" He poked my nose and cartlidge. "Besides these."

I smiled. "yes, actually." I lifted my shirt slightly. "This piercing," i pointed to my belly button, and he examined it. Just a diamond studded one, nothing special. I pulled down my shirt and pulled down the shoulder strap so that he could see the back of my right shoulder, and the beautiful rose that resided there. "And this." I smiled as he smirked and fingered it.

"Cool." He said finally and we resumed walking. He suddenly grabbed something out of his back pocket, which seemed to be a phone. "I think its about time i get you home." He smiled at me.

I returned it as he offered his arm to me, which i took. "Lead the way."

We got in Morty and he drove me home. I opened the door to to get out and i suddenly realised i was forgetting something. I took a paper and pen from my purse, wrote on it, and handed it to Eli. I smiled. "Call or text, doesnt matter. But we need to communicate if we are gonna get this project done."

He smirked and nodded and i stepped out of Morty, and as I did so, i felt something slip in to my back pocket. A piece of paper with a number on it. Scrawled across the top was 'The scary new kid (who really isnt that scary)' I laughed and got out of the hearse completely. I walked to the drivers side and gave him a hug through the window, which he hesitantly returned. I smiled at him. "Thanks, hun. I'll see ya tomorrow."

He nodded and just as i reached my front door, i heard him shout. "You can count on it."

This boy was seriously something else. And i loved it.


End file.
